Faculty leaders seek greater role on UGA Foundation

University of Georgia faculty leaders are going after a greater role on the UGA Foundation, a non-profit, fund-raising giant for the state's flagship institution.

Members of the University Council, the body that approves UGA policy, authorized Chairman Scott Weinberg to contact foundation trustees as early as today.

Council members want three faculty representatives, elected by the council, added to the 51-member foundation board of trustees.

UGA already has four foundation trustees, including UGA President Michael Adams, who appointed the other three: Provost Arnett Mace, Vice President and Associate Provost Art Dunning and Gary Bertsch, director of UGA's Center for International Trade and Security.

''I don't know if three's the right number or 25 is the right number,'' said Weinberg, associate dean of UGA's College of Environment and Design. ''We just want to have faculty representation.''

The foundation in recent months has been rocked by controversy, from an audit it commissioned of Adams to internal discussion about downsizing membership. Trustees contacted for this story refused to comment.

In other business Thursday, the University Council denied a request by the university libraries committee to shield its materials budget from the full extent of looming budget cuts.

''It seems irresponsible to set priorities at one end, and to implicitly say everything else is less important,'' said psychology professor Irwin Bernstein.

Bill Potter, UGA librarian, said his main concern is subscriptions to science journals. If 5 percent is cut from the library's $7.5 million budget, he said, some journals will be excluded from next year's collection.

Meanwhile, the council unanimously approved the creation of a UGA Cancer Center, which will provide a network for faculty collaboration and cancer research. The center also is the first step in what is expected to be a cancer-research partnership with the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.